WiGoMan Blog - Tech Care (Repair, Reuse, Recycle) Industry Leader

It’s been a long journey to my very first Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Despite having been in the tech industry my entire career, having one of my own companies featured in a CTA publication, and having been a passionate lover of all-things-tech all my life this will be my first CES. I couldn’t be more excited to be attending with the express goal of finding new opportunities for the incredible people of the tech care industry. This trip comes at a critical crossroads for both the consumer tech and tech care industries. An inflection point, if you will, where working together is more important now than at any other point in our past. Put simply friends this is a supply and demand issue. That has a very simple solution. Consumer tech is seeking to becoming more ingrained in our lives but the lack of a more robust tech care (repair, support, reuse, and recycle) system is slowing progress. On the other side members of the tech care industry are chomping at the bit to help people t...

I love this industry and I am passionate about seeing it prosper, especially the independent small businesspeople that make up most of its members. I started, like many of you, with an idea and a dream. I started my first tech repair business at the same time that Justin Wetherill, Eddie Trujillo, and David Reiff started uBreakiFix -- obviously they did a little bit better than I did. I realized, a little too late, that I needed help. I needed someone to help champion my business. Our industry is taking care of tech after it's sold (repair, support, reuse & recycle)  and is a relatively new industry that is still finding its way. There are a lot of great companies within the industry doing some wonderful things, including UBIF, to help people take care of their tech after it's purchased. The "Tech Care" industry has helped many creative small businesspeople get into business while also helping a unique set of people find jobs that they can excel in. Truly the Amer...

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the TECH CARE ASSOCIATION ! The worlds first non-profit professional trade association for companies in the tech care industry, those that repair, refurbish and recycle tech products. Today we officially launch our website at www.TechCareAssociation.org as we start accepting new members. Today we start working for you to make the industry that takes care of tech thrive! Today we all start to work together to help realize the long missed potential of the industry. Today is the beginning of something big! My vision for our industry started many years ago but is realized today for us all. My vision is to help the industry grow to new heights -- or to put it in simple terms, WE WANT TO DOUBLE YOUR BUSINESS . Talk (or in this case type) is cheap. So let me layout some of our plans to you here and then you can check out the website and join us. FIRST - ORGANIZE & COMMUNICATE CLEARLY The problem is that most companies...

The Tech Care industry is a fractured one, tribal in nature. A collection of thousands of companies in repair, support, reuse and recycling that often really only care about themselves and their own tribes' success. Sometimes that tribalism gets nasty. For instance,  I recently heard a story about a repair shop that once had to take out a restraining  order on the owner of a rival store. I often hear p arts suppliers who take every opportunity to trash a competitor over the "real" quality of their parts.  R2 certified recyclers saying that other R2 recyclers aren't REALLY following R2 standards .  YouTube personalities that constantly complain  about the work of other companies. Then there is the  folks who are supposed to be trying to help the industry move forward but put down companies that don't support a cause they claim should unite the industry. Now imagine for a second what this tribal cannibalistic industry could do if it worked toge...

On Thursday, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Facebook reported a blockbuster quarter,   earning a combined net profit of $38 billion. After crushing much of their own competition AAAF (Amazon, Apple, Alphabet & Facebook) now want to crush small businesspeople too. And why not ? The federal government isn’t going to do anything about it! Afterall, these big ole huge monopolies tech companies spend a lot of money on the powers that be in Washington DC. Before I get to that lets take a minute to review their transgressions towards the tech repair, reuse & recycling industry first. APPLE Apple can best be described as the industries frenemy. Lots of Apple repairs along with high resell value for refurbished pieces makes them the ‘Apple’ of the industry eye. PLUS, people who work in the industry love Apple product despite how poorly they treat the industry. For the first 3-4 years of iPhone Apple didn’t care independent repair nor did they do any type of repair work in thei...